Aradia Julia Sunseri is a professional performance and belly dance artist, ritual movement arts instructor, and costume designer. She has over 13 years of experience in the movement arts and performance in theater, on film and stage.
Expressing the anatomy of the soul through ritual dance and original handmade costumes, her visual and energetic presence and choreography embody the magic of storytelling. Aradia performs with veils, fans, a balancing bowl, the scimitar sword, and the element of fire with the staff, fans, fingers, sword, and palm torches.
Her constantly evolving style incorporates tribal fusion belly dance, modern dance, fire dance, ballet and butoh. Aradia’s art is rooted in yoga, dance therapy modalities and theatrical improvisation.
Aradia has performed worldwide as a soloist and has also shared the stage with artists and renowned musicians including: Shpongle, Faith & the Muse (as Serpentine), Lucent Dossier, Chebb i Sabbah, Zen Arts, David Starfire, Andrew Jones, Random Rab and many more. Aradia has also performed in music videos that have appeared on Mtv and in independent films. She has been invited for repeat performances at music, art, and yoga festivals in the U.S. and internationally, including: Coachella, Burning Man, Lightning in a Bottle, Wanderlust, Source, Harmony, Symbiosis, and Electric Picnic.
EXTENDED DANCE BIO
Aradia is a interdisciplinary artist, lifelong yogini, and dancer who has studied diverse forms of dance, including butoh, sufi, odissi, flamenco, jazz, ballet, modern, cabaret & tribal fusion belly dance, fire dance, modern, & ritual performance. Her first memory of dance is as a toddler attending a Sufi dance ceremony, where she watched in awe, the whirling fabrics & community of people joyously dancing. She started dancing ballet at age five and continued at various dance academies for the rest of childhood.
2003 I started fire dancing creating my own tools
2004-2008 Dancer with the Oregon & California fire conclave
2005 Discovered the art of belly dance in Portland, Oregon
2005-2008 Serpentine Co-Producer, “East Meets West” Underground Belly Dance Festivals
2005-2010 Co founder / Co artistic director, Serpentine temple dancers of the serpent mythos, Dance Troupe, a dark tribal/butoh/fire belly dance performance group.
2009-2010 Dancer & back up singer (as part of Serpentine). Toured Europe & the U.S with Faith & The Muse. The collaboration was inspired by Shinto mythology, butoh, gothic & tribal culture.
2008-Present: Founder of Ritual Movement Arts (RMA), San Francisco, CA.
INSPIRATION:
Aradia draws inspiration from her mentors, other dancers and artists, all brave individuals who live their passion, and the feminine divine. Aradia’s influences include: Sha Sha Higsby, St. Ruth Denis, Tatsumi Hijikata, Mata Hari, Martha gram, Cleopatra, Jeanne D’Arc, Isis, & priestesses of the sacred path.
Aradia has studied various styles of belly dance, including: A.T.S tribal, tribal fusion, and cabaret, with teachers including the pioneering: Jill Parker, Suhaila Salimpour, Zoe Jakes, Caroleena Shakti, Miriam Peretz, Rachel Brice and many more.
Aradia actively studies several forms of yoga, as well as sacred temple dance, tribal fusion belly dance, Feldenkrais method, somatic healing and Integrated Movement Therapy.
“I have invariably included dance in my methods of meditation, because there is nothing more miraculous for meditation than dancing. If you dance fully, if you dance totally, then in that dance you’re being comes out of the body. The body will go on moving in rhythm but you will experience that you are out of the body. And then your real dance begins: below, the body will go on dancing; above, you will dance. The body on the earth, you in the sky. The body in the earthly, you in the celestial. The body will dance the dance of matter; you will dance the dance of consciousness. You will become natural, the king of dancing.” Enlightenment, The Only Revolution?Osho”
For more info about Aradia, and her upcoming performances, go to www.aradiasunseri.com